Not plotwise, but have you seen the cover? Philips with a black neo-esque suit, sunglasses and a gun? Hell, they even have binary code in the background (not exactly like the matrix, but come on). And to add insult to injury, compare this cover to the cover of Equilibrium. I think you'll see what I'm getting at.
shareLet me make it very clear: I am not lashing out at you personally, sceptre1200.
I am so tired of the over-used "Matrix Rip-Off" term. It seems that anything that has a distopic future and people wear black is now a "Matrix Rip-Off". Yes, The Matrix was a revolutionary film (although they should have just stopped with 1, like they should have with Highlander...). By all rights, it should be influential. Filmmakers should strive to capture what the Matrix did so well in the future. Everyone is aware that there were bleak-future/sci-fi movies before Matrix, right? And, yes people wore black in them too. I mean Black Mask was made in 1996 and I've heard people say it ripped off the Matrix...IN 1996!?! If anything, Matrix took a little from Black Mask (I think they may have had the same fight coordinator). Remember when Neo and Smith get into it and Neo gives him that sweet hit that breaks the lens of Smith's sunglasses? Exact same thing happens in Black Mask. I guess what I'm saying is that movies will always borrow from one another. It is part of the evolution of film. If we could just get the Matrix-ites out there to calm down a little.
Like I said at the beginning, I'm not jumping sceptre1200's case. He was talking more about the packaging and I agree with him/her. They gussied it up to attract fans of the genre (which worked on me...dammit...). It was simply the subject line that caught my eye.
"THe Matrix"... that film about a world dominated by a computer, in which humans fight against it? THe one with Keanu Reeves playing John Connor Anderson... gee, that one... sorry, I always think of it as "Terminator V".
Haven't seen "Absolon", and I don't give a d**n about its originality... but honestly, claiming that the films rips off the Matrix (as if the Matrix was a 100% original new idea)... annoys me.
Take 1995's "Omega Doom", a lousy b-film starred bY Rutger Hauer... take a look at the bad chicks of it. Take 1997's "Nirvana" (starring Chris Lambert). Take 1998's "Dark City"... notice anything familiar?
No. But, in my defense I haven't seen Omega Doom or Nirvana.
The whole market of "world being taken over by _____ and people must fight to save humanity" has been pretty much mined dry anyway.